


A Day Out

by MyOwnSuperintendent



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 11:26:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10696053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnSuperintendent/pseuds/MyOwnSuperintendent
Summary: Scully, Mulder, and Emily spend a day at the beach.





	A Day Out

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The X-Files or anything related to it. Hope you enjoy!

When Mulder calls Scully on Saturday morning, she is getting ready to go to the beach.  “I promised Emily we could go today,” she explains.  “Was there something you needed?”

“Nothing special,” he says quickly.  “Just wondering what you were up to.”

“Just the beach,” she says.  “We’re heading out soon.  Emily, sweetheart, stop dragging the towel on the floor.”  Back on the phone.  “You could come with us, if you like.”

“Yeah,” he says.  “Yeah, that sounds good.  Do you want me to meet you there or…?”

“We’ll pick you up on the way,” she says.  “You wouldn’t happen to have any pails and shovels, would you?”

“I don’t think so,” he says.  “But I’ll take a look before you get here.”

Scully picks Mulder up half an hour later; he gets into the passenger seat, says hi to Scully, and then turns around to face the backseat, where Emily is sitting securely in her car seat.  “Hi, Emily,” he says.  “Excited for the beach?”

She nods solemnly.  “Did you bring a pail?”

“Well, I looked,” he says, “but all my pails seem to have vanished.”  Emily makes a face at that, her expression dubious.

“It’s all right,” Scully says.  “I think they sell them at the beach.  We can get one there, right, Emily?  What color pail would you like to get?”

Evidently Emily takes this question seriously; she is quiet for a long moment before she says, “Red.”

It doesn’t take them long to get there.  The first stop is procuring a pail, red, with the matching shovel tied to its handle.  “Let me get this,” Mulder says, taking out his wallet as Scully reaches into her purse.

“Mulder, no,” Scully says.  “You don’t have to.”

“I know,” he says.  “But I’d like to anyway.  It’s…an early birthday present for Emily.  Right, Emily?”

Emily smiles.  “My birthday is in November.”

“That’s why I said early,” he says, and Scully smiles too after a moment, nods okay, puts her own wallet away.

It’s another one of their negotiations, the two of them figuring out how things work now, which they’ve done a lot of over the past seven months.  They don’t spend as much time together at work now—Scully’s worked things out so she doesn’t have to travel, at least for a while—and they both worried a little, at first, that that would mean that they wouldn’t spend much time together, period.  But that didn’t happen; it’s different now, but they still see a lot of each other.  They at least talk more or less every day—he’ll call her from his motel when he’s away on a case, run theories by her.  When he’s in town, he’ll come by in person, but they don’t talk so much about cases then.  Emily is there, and the three of them spend time together.  They go to the park together when it’s nice out, or they play a lot of board games when it’s not.  It sometimes surprises Scully just how much she likes seeing Mulder with Emily, the way he’s silly and sweet with her and makes her smile, as solemn a child as she can sometimes be.  And when Mulder sees Scully with Emily, the gentle way she soothes her when she seems sad or scared, the way she looks at her with such love, he’s unbelievably happy for her, for them both.

They stop at the changing rooms next and then head down towards the beach itself.  Scully is in a green bathing suit, Mulder in blue, Emily in yellow with flowers.  She’s recently started taking swimming lessons, but Scully still puts water wings on her and holds on to her hand as they approach the water.  Emily holds out her other hand to Mulder and he takes it, smiling down at her. 

They wade, Emily jumping up and down in the waves as they break.  She says she’s hungry after a while, and they go back to sit on their towels and eat the sandwiches that Scully brought.  Emily digs with her new pail and shovel.  Scully shows her how to build a sandcastle.

“Just a sandcastle?” Mulder asks.  “You could try a different type of stand building.  Sand high rise.  Sand barn.”

“Sand _barn_?” Emily asks.

“Sure,” Mulder says.  “Lots of people like to build sand barns.”

_I think you are talking nonsense_ , says the expression on Emily’s face.  She looks exactly like her mom sometimes.

They go back in the water as the afternoon wears on.  The tide is coming in now, and there’s less and less beach, which seems to fascinate Emily.  Scully leans down beside her to talk, explaining tides in simple words, in a soft voice.

Emily’s steps are slow as they head back to their towels at the end of the day.  “Are you okay, sweetheart?” Scully asks.

“I’m sleepy,” Emily says. 

“Well, we’ll be home pretty soon,” Scully says.  “Just as soon as we get our things and get changed, we can get in the car and go, okay?”  Emily nods.

She doesn’t make it home before falling asleep, though; she’s stretched out on Scully’s towel, her eyes closed, by the time Mulder and Scully have gathered up the cooler and the pail and the sunblock and the other towels and all of their shoes.  Mulder bends down and lifts her up; she shifts in her sleep, her head lolling against his shoulder, but she doesn’t wake up.

They walk back up the beach together, towards the changing rooms.  Scully holds Emily while Mulder goes in and changes, and he does the same for her.  They head towards the car, stepping to the side of the path briefly to let two older women by.  As they pass, they hear one of the women say to the other, “What a sweet family.”

It’s not the first time they’ve seen someone think that the three of them are a family.  It’s not always this direct, but it’s often present in the way strangers look at them or speak to them—waiters in restaurants, the parents of other kids in the park.  It’s not an unreasonable assumption, Mulder supposes, if you don’t know them.

He looks over at Scully.  She is smiling.

“Do you want me to drop you off?” Scully asks quietly towards the end of their drive back.  “You could come back with us for a while if you want.  We could have dinner.”

“Dinner sounds nice,” he says, and he smiles at her.  She smiles back.  So much happens in looks between the two of them.

Back at her apartment, Scully puts Emily in her room to sleep, changing her from her bathing suit into pajamas.  Emily stirs, murmuring something—Scully’s not sure if it’s just sounds or if it’s words she can’t quite catch—and falls back asleep again.  Scully kisses her forehead, whispering, “Love you,” and then goes back into the living room, where Mulder is sitting on the couch, looking thoughtful.  “Hey,” she says, taking a seat beside him.

“Hey,” he says in return.  A pause.  “Scully…it doesn’t…does it bother you when people think that I’m…that we’re…”  He trails off, then starts again.  “Do you mind when people think we’re a family?”

She didn’t expect this question.  “No,” she says.  “Should I mind?  Do you mind?”

“No!” he says.  “No.  Of course not.”

“Good,” she says.  They’re quiet for a moment, and then she speaks again.  “Anyway, I think we are.  In a way, at least.  I think of you as…as part of our family.”

“Scully,” he says.  His voice is soft, almost awed.  Their hands find each other, between them on the couch.

It feels natural to them both when she leans in and kisses him.  It feels right.


End file.
